Rational Criticism, Ideological Sustainability and Intellectual Leadership in the Digital Public Sphere

Mahlouly, Dounia

Abstract

This review postulates that today's digital environments unveil an era of connectivity, in which digital communication devices exercise a general influence on social interactions and public deliberation. From this perspective, it argues that connective practices are likely to affect two main components of the normative public sphere, namely rational criticism and ideological sustainability. Drawing on the case of the 2011 Arab revolutions, in which social media proved to have a strategic function, this paper illustrates the ideological heterogeneity of social networks. Additionally, this article considers how issues of rational criticism and ideological sustainability could be improved by regulating online interactions and proposes that the digital divide could act as a natural process of regulation for today's connective and transnational public sphere.

Citation

Mahlouly, D. (2014). Rational Criticism, Ideological Sustainability and Intellectual Leadership in the Digital Public Sphere. International journal of e-politics, 5(1), 78-90. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014010105

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 29, 2013
• Publication Date: Jan 31, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jun 3, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 3, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of E-Politics
• Print ISSN: 1947-9131
• Electronic ISSN: 1947-914X
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 78-90
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/ijep.2014010105
• Keywords: Arab Spring, Connectivity, Cyber-Activism, Digital Divide, e-Democracy, Ideological; Sustainability, Intellectual Leadership,Public Sphere, Rational Criticism